Band of Brothers
by lawslave
Summary: A look at the events that helped cement the friendship between Jamie and JC. Jamie/OC. Another story in the 'One of Our Own' universe.
1. Chapter 1

**In 'Laugh Often, Love Much', my OC, JC, was one of Jamie's groomsmen. This is my attempt to explain how they eventually went on to become close friends. The story is from their perspectives only. Short appearances from Frank and Danny at the end and only mentions Eddie and the others - I wanted to focus on just the partners.

Thanks again to siss7!

Chapter 1

"You know, there are some really excellent Chinese places hidden away on these little side streets. Real authentic stuff too. Not like the places the tourists usually end up." JC grinned at his partner over the roof of their squad car. "We should come back here for lunch."

Jamie shook his head as he closed the driver's door. "We just started tour and you're already thinking about lunch?"

"It's good to plan ahead," JC said while he waited for Jamie on the sidewalk.

"I'm starting to wonder how I keep ending up with partners who constanly have food on the brain." Jamie placed his hat on his head and looked up at the three story, run-down building they were parked in front of. They'd gotten a call about a break in at a Chinatown business before they even left the precinct. The ground floor was occupied by two businesses: a Chinese restaurant on one side and a beauty salon on the other whose storefront shutter was still down and secured.

"Great minds, Reagan. Besides, someone once said 'your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.'"

"Well, it would be a short ride if I ate like you."

"But what a ride it would be, huh?" JC grinned back.

Jamie couldn't help but grin back and shake his head. Six months and it still caught him by surprise sometimes how much JC was like Vinny.

Jamie tried the door to the restaurant and knocked when he found it locked. An older, grey-haired Asian man opened the door and stared back at them.

"Sir, did you report a break in?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, yes. They break in. Take everything from office. Come in, come in," the old man said in his broken English and stepped back to allow the officers into the restaurant.

JC followed his partner in. "Is this your place?" he asked.

"Yes, this my restaurant," he confirmed.

"And your name, sir?" JC asked. He pulled out his memo book and a pen to begin taking information down for the report.

"Wen. Liang Wen. Come, I show you," Mr. Wen said.

"Anyone else here, Mr. Wen?" Jamie asked.

"No," Mr. Wen threw over his shoulder as he took off toward the back.

Jamie followed him at a slower pace, taking in the condition of the small restaurant. "This the place you wanna come back to for lunch?" he whispered. He could tell the owner made some attempts to run a clean restaurant, but the sagging and stained ceiling and crumbling plaster along the walls was kind of an appetite killer.

"No. No. I'm sure this is not one of those places I was talking about," JC advised as he took in the same surroundings.

They made their way to the back, through a small curtain that separated the dining room from the rest of the restaurant. They had to side-step their way through the kitchen - narrow walkways between the counters and appliances felt even more claustrophobic with the stacks of boxed food items on every available surface and along the floor of the hallway leading to the office and storage rooms in the back.

"In here, Officers," Wen said and pointed to his right. He stood halfway down the hallway in front of his office.

When Jamie and JC reached the door, they understood why Wen had remained outside. Jamie stuck his head through the doorway, wondering how anyone got anything done in such a confined space. There was a large, imposing safe against the far left corner with, of course, more boxes of random ingredients stacked on top. A long, Formica built-in desk sat next to the safe and ran almost the whole length of the room with wire shelving above packed full of boxes, documents and takeout containers. The only other items squeezed into the tiny room was a beat up, two-drawer metal filing cabinet to the right and a rolling stool.

Jamie walked into the small room and took the few steps necessary to get to the safe.

JC walked in and stopped in front of the desk. He turned to the owner and asked, "Does anyone else know the combination to the safe, Mr. Wen?"

"No. Just me. Only me," the old man answered.

Jamie grabbed a latex glove out of his pocket and used it to swing the safe door open the rest of the way, almost having to press his body flush up against the wall to get it past him. He peered inside to find a few cash register trays and several other narrow shelves emptied of their valuable contents. What remained were documents that he was sure the owner found important, but was of no value to their thief.

"They took everything they could. How much did you have in cash, Mr. Wen?" Jamie asked.

JC placed his memo book on the desk so he could take a look for himself.

"Many thousand, officer," he advised.

"Do you have records of how much was in there?" Jamie asked and pointed to the safe.

"Yes, I have record," he responded.

"The front door looked okay. Did you find signs of forced entry in the back?" JC questioned the old man.

"Yes, lock broken. I show you. Come," he instructed and motioned them out as he turned quickly and headed for the back door.

Jamie stepped forward and waited behind JC as he turned to grab his memo book when an enormous explosion knocked them both off their feet. Both were unconscious before part of the building rumbled and began to collapse in on itself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

JC opened his eyes, startled to find everything as dark as if he'd kept them closed. He blinked slowly several times, tempted to fall back to sleep when aches and pains started to make themselves known and everything came back to him at once. JC was laying on his side, his left arm under his torso and his right arm thrown over his head and weighed down by something rigid and heavy. He pushed his arm back, throwing the item off of him and went into a coughing fit from the dust that swirled around in the air. Once he caught his breath he tried taking inventory of himself but his body just felt like one massive bruise. His ribs ached while he was coughing, so he had most likely injured them during whatever it was that happened. He turned onto his back to free his other arm and pulled his legs free of the debris that was scattered on them.

"Jesus," he cried as he settled on to his back once again and closed his eyes to breathe through the pain. JC wiped his face with both hands, his skin was covered in a thin layer of dust and his fingers hit a tender spot on his forehead and then a sticky wetness along his hairline. "What the hell," he whispered and let his arms fall back over his head. But his brow furrowed when his right arm landed on something soft.

His partner he realized and his eyes widened.

"Reagan," he called out and tried turning in his partner's direction. He groaned as he got on all fours, breathing in the dusty air and coughing it right back out. He reached out to find his partner in the dark.

"Reagan," he said again. "Jamie?" But he got no response, not to his voice or to the hand that squeezed his partner's lower leg. "God, please..." he prayed.

JC couldn't see a damn thing and he closed his eyes to think of what to do next, when he cursed. "Stupid, JC," he said to himself and reached for his belt and the small flashlight secured to it. JC squinted at the white beam of light, swinging it up and gasping when he realized the small office they'd been in was reduced to a fraction of its original size. The ceiling that had once been several feet above his head now lay collapsed at an angle in one large piece, against the metal cabinet on one end and angled against the chest high safe on the other - probably the only reason he was alive right now and he had no idea what lay on the other side.

JC continued to breathe heavily and turned back, aiming the light up his partner's body. Jamie had also ended up on his left side, pretzeled in the tight space, still and unresponsive. He pointed the light near his partner's head and gasped. Jamie's head lay on the edge of the heavy, open safe. His left eye and cheek clearly bruised and swollen and the light reflected off dark blood that spilled down the edge of the safe.

"Reagan. Hey, Reagan, please, come on man, wake up." He crawled forward and coughed again. "Jamie. Come on, man. I need to know you're okay," he said after clearing his throat. JC ran his hand up his partner's sleeved arm and placed his fingers along his neck, sighing in relief when he felt a strong and steady pulse. He was just knocked out cold, or at least that's what JC hoped. He left his hand on Jamie's shoulder, listening to faint sounds of creaking that filtered into the small space.

JC looked down at Jamie one more time, wanting to do something but afraid to move his partner, when all of a sudden his shoulder radio came to life and static crackled through the small space. Startled, he dropped the flashlight to the ground and reached for the radio, desperate to get help. "12-George to central." He released the button and only heard the same white noise in response, so he tried again. "12-George to central, do you copy?" He got nothing but sat there for several minutes trying over and over again to raise dispatch on the radio.

When he got nowhere, he patted down his pants for his phone. Finding it in his left pocket, he pulled it out and discovered that the screen was cracked, but still hoped to see the device power up.

No such luck. "Damn it!"

He turned around and patted down his partner with one hand, easily finding his phone in the first pocket. He slipped it out and first prayed that it worked. JC sat back down, closing his eyes as he pressed the power button on Jamie's phone and gasped in surprise when his eyes opened to see the home screen displaying a photo of Eddie and Jamie's nephews and niece posing for the camera. JC huffed out a laugh that bordered on a sob. He smiled at both the image itself and the pure happiness he felt at seeing the phone on. Now he prayed he had a signal.

JC thumbed through the contacts, finding their sergeant's number first - Renzulli had been the one to hand them the burglary call at the end of the pre-shift meeting. Hitting the call button, he stared as the phone tried dialing, swearing when he got the 'no signal' message.

He tried shooting out a text just in case he had more luck with that.

'12george 1 injured'

'trapped grd fl'

'Help'

He hit send after each, watching a little wheel spin next to each message. There was one bar lit at the top indicating a weak signal, but nothing was happening. After a few minutes, the first message showed as being delivered. Another minute later, the other two showed as failed.

JC blew out a breath, hoping that his sergeant got the message, that help was on the way and wished that his partner would show signs of life. He stowed the phone into his shirt pocket and went back to his shoulder radio, calling dispatch over and over again, praying he'd get some sort of connection to the outside world. He only stopped when he heard a groan behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

Question: Heard from a few people that they'd want to see outsiders' (Renzulli, more family, especially Eddie) POVs on the situation. They way this is already written, it's only the partners' POVs. Just wondering if the story needs the other POVs to make it more complete or to satisfy a lot of peoples curiosity on the flip side of the story?

Chapter 3

JC's hand fell from his radio and he turned around to find Jamie stirring, his eyes were squeezed shut as his hands moved about slowly and clumsily. Jamie rolled halfway onto his back, stopped short by the wall behind him. He groaned as his head rolled back along the edge of the safe. Even in the dim lighting, JC got a good look at the bloodied wound that ran from his cheek bone and up into his hairline.

"Hey, hey, Reagan. Take it easy, man," JC advised him. "You're gonna be okay, just don't move. You whacked your head pretty good." He got on his knees and reached out to place a hand on his chest to keep him still, but became concerned when he received no acknowledgement.

Despite JC's attempt to keep him still, Jamie continued to move, rolling back on to his side and on to his stomach, elbows barely supporting him enough to hold himself up over the side of the safe.

JC clenched his teeth as he shot out to catch his partner before he took another nose dive into the safe. "Come on now, let's get you settled." He was as careful as he possibly could in getting Jamie to lay back down and stretched out in a more comfortable position. The only sounds coming from his partner were a mixture of grunts and gasps.

JC ignored his own pain and somehow managed to turn Jamie over and repositioned in the narrow space. He was breathless by the time he was done, but more concerned about the continued lack of a coherent response from his partner.

Jamie breathed roughly and he swallowed thickly. His stomach was threatening to rebel against him after he'd been moved and he was having trouble thinking past the intense pain in his head and neck.

JC looked down at Jamie and said, "Reagan? Are you hearing me, man?"

Jamie opened his eyes, his left lid only partially opening as he squinted at the ceiling. JC could see confusion in them and his pupils were clearly uneven.

JC hovered above him to get in his line of sight. "Hey, Reagan? Can you hear me?"

Jamie blinked sluggishly and gasped, shirking away from JC. "Wha..," Jamie paused to swallow again, "what're you doin' here?" he rasped.

JC looked back down at him, bewildered. "We were in here together when everything collapsed. What's the last thing you remember?" he asked, concerned that Jamie had hit his head harder than he thought.

"What're you doin' here?" he repeated in a whisper with a cross between shock and fear displayed across his face.

JC was afraid his partner wasn't remembering a damn thing about their day so far. "It's me, man."

"Vin," he said softly as his eyes closed.

JC's eye's widened.

"Vinny," Jamie whispered again.

JC's stomach clenched at the realization that his partner thought he was seeing his brother. He turned onto his right hip and leaned back against his arm, reaching to squeeze Jamie's shoulder. "It's JC, partner. Hey, open your eyes for me. Your were out long enough already."

Jamie's breathing began evening out, and JC knew he was losing him again and shook his shoulder gently. "You gotta stay awake for me, Reagan. Come on," he pleaded but he knew it was a losing battle when his head rolled slowly to the right.

"Crap," he hissed. They seriously needed help. He was trapped in a collapsed building with his concussed partner who thought he was his dead brother. How the hell did this happen?

He pushed himself back until he could lean against the wall. JC closed his eyes and covered his face with both hands to gather his thoughts, now noticing how quiet it was. He'd been concerned with the sounds of the building settling earlier, now he wished he could hear something, anything that would let him know help was out there.

JC looked at his watch. It had been almost nintey minutes since they arrived for the burglary call. He needed to do something so he went back to his radio. It should work, their systems were meant to penetrate buildings. It had to work.

"12-George to Central. Do you copy?"

He was greeted by static.

"12-George to Central. Do you copy?" He said a little more forcefully and expected to hear more static but got a garbled response instead.

"...George...your status?"

JC sat up abruptly when he heard the voice and his free hand flew to brace his ribs. "Ah...two officers, one injured and currently unresponsive. One civilian, location unknown. Do you copy?"

"10-4, 12-George. What's...location?"

"First floor restaurant, back office, over," he said and closed his eyes in relief.

"10-4,...identify yourself."

"Cruz on the air, Reagan is injured," he advised and glanced at his motionless partner.

"Hang tight, Cruz. Help's...way."

JC laughed. "You hear that, Reagan? Help's coming." He ran his hands down the back of his head and left them at the back of his neck to massage his tight muscles. He sighed and let his hands fall away, his left hitting a hard edge on the floor next to him. JC looked down to find Joe Reagan's face staring up at him through the gloomy interior.

He picked it up and held Jamie's hat in both hands. He'd caught glimpses of the photo on several occasions, the first time being a few weeks after they started riding together, after Jamie had spotted Vinny's photo in his own hat. But this was the first time he really looked at it. JC glanced down at his partner and then back at the photo. He hadn't realized how much the brothers looked alike. He'd met Danny Reagan a couple of times and had found no similarities between him and Jamie, physical or otherwise, at least not from those short encounters. There was an obvious mutual respect between the two and the typical, gruff brotherly affection, but he didn't think two brothers could be more different. But Joe and Jamie, you could easily identify them as brothers and he wondered at the relationship between the two. From the few times Jamie had mentioned him, he'd sensed that there had been a tight bond there that he missed as deeply as the the one JC yearned to have back with his own brother.

JC searched the floor and found his own hat near his feet. He pulled it to his lap and eyed both photos before laying them against the wall, both older brothers watching over their younger brothers. It might be stupid to some, but right now they needed all the help they could get to pull them out of their current situation.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jamie was surfacing again, but slowly. A familiar voice was cutting through the ringing in his ears and he opened his eyes to see his partner's worried face above his.

"Hey. Can you hear me, man?" JC asked.

Jamie blinked and swallowed thickly. "Yeah," he rasped.

"Yeah? What's my name then?"

Jamie squinted back at his partner and JC's stomach clenched again. He thought he saw confusion on his face again.

"Cruz," he answered.

JC shook his head. "You're not getting off that easy, man. What's my first name?"

"What's wrong with you?" Jamie countered softly.

"Nothing like what's wrong with you. Answer me," JC ordered.

Jamie stared back. "JC."

Cruz smiled in relief. "Good. Good. What's the last thing you remember?"

Jamie closed his eyes. That shouldn't be a hard question, but he was having trouble thinking.

"You still with me?"

"Yeah," he answered as he reopened his eyes.

"What's the last thing you remember, Jamie?"

"Watching Jets game," he stated.

JC frowned.

"What?" But when he didn't get an answer, he asked, "Where are we?" He reached up to touch the left side of his face, where it was hurting the worst.

"Hey, hey," JC reached up to grab his hand, "don't go messing with that. You took a pretty good knock to the head. Finally stopped bleeding and your eye is a little swollen, but you don't want to make it worse."

"Where are we?" he repeated.

"In Chinatown. We were here on a burglary call. I don't know what happened, man. One second we're following the owner to the back, next second I'm waking up in here with you." JC shook his head and sat back on the floor, staying near Jamie so that he remained in his line of sight.

"Chinatown?"

"Yeah."

"I don't remember coming to Chinatown," Jamie said slowly and worriedly.

"You don't remember a lot of things. Jets haven't played in three days, Reagan. But don't worry about that, okay? FDNY is working on getting us out, all right? We'll get that head of yours checked soon. We'll make sure the only thing you've lost is a couple days on patrol and not any of that expensive Harvard education, huh?"

But Jamie was becoming a little agitated. The throbbing in his head and neck was going up a couple of notches and he was freaked out that he was missing three days.

"Hey, calm down, Jamie. Everything's fine. They're getting us out of here soon. I didn't mean to upset you."

When Jamie's eyes started to take in his surroundings and panic really began to set in, JC got right back over him again. "Focus on me, Jamie. Come on. Focus on me and relax your breathing before you make yourself pass out again. You've ignored me enough as it is in here," he tried joking.

Jamie listened to his partner and slowed his breathing and closed his eyes again.

"How's the rest of you feeling?"

"Head and neck hurt...stomach's queasy," he replied.

Jamie startled when JC's radio sprung to life.

"Cruz, you on the air?" his radio called out.

JC stayed where he was and hit the button on the radio. "I'm here. So's my partner. Decided to join me again. But we could really use some good news." The signal was loud and clear now that they had switched him to a different channel.

"Good to hear. They're working their way back there, guys, but it's taking time. Just checking in. How's Reagan?"

"Could use something for his headache and soon. He's a little stuck on the Jets game a few days ago," JC answered and released the button, hoping they understood that his partner was missing time.

"I got you. I'll let them know. We'll check in again in a while. Don't hesitate to reach out if anything changes."

JC reached back up and said, "10-4."

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long have we been here?"

"About four hours," JC advised. "Got through on the radio about an hour and a half in and they've been checking in."

"I've been out the whole time?"

"No, you were semi awake, just not lucid, a couple times." JC sat down. "Just relax and keep still. I don't want you making that head injury any worse."

Jamie clenched his eyes shut and began taking deeper breaths through his nose.

"Hey, what's wrong?" JC asked, clearly alarmed.

Jamie swallowed thickly several times before he could answer. "Don't feel so good," he replied. He grabbed his stomach as he began to gag.

"Woah, woah, Reagan!" JC slid one hand under his neck and quickly rolled him onto his side as he was emptied the meager contents of his stomach. JC grimaced at the site and painful sounds of his partner tossing his cookies. "It's okay, man. I got you," he soothed as he waited for Jamie to finish.

After a minute, he asked, "Think you can lay back down now?"

"Yeah," Jamie said through some deep breaths.

JC rolled him onto his back and looked around the small space. He'd cleared away the debris that had fallen on and around them as best he could when Jamie had been out earlier to make as much room as possible for them to spread out. He found what he was looking for wedged under the built-in desk - a wide pack of paper dinner napkins that he grabbed and broke open to throw over and hide the dispelled contents of Jamie's rebellious stomach. It was the best he could do in the moment.

"I'd offer you something to drink, but the closest thing I've found to liquid so far are tiny packets of soy sauce," JC said.

Jamie opened his eyes and offered his partner a half smile. "Pass."

"Yeah, I don't think I'll have the urge for Chinese for a long time."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jamie startled when he opened his eyes to complete darkness and remembered their current predicament. "JC?"

JC switched the flashlight on, pointing it away from him. "Hey, you're awake," he said softly, mindful of his partner's sensitivity to most any sound or light right now.

Jamie squinted at the light and his partner's blurry face came into view. "It was dark..." he whispered.

"Yeah, just saving the battery. Don't want to go through mine too quickly and have to use yours if I don't have to. You were napping again, so..." JC trailed off. "How's the stomach?"

Jamie thought for a moment. "Fine, if I don't move."

"Well then, it's a good thing there's not a lot of room in here to do that." JC smirked at him and asked, "And the head?"

"Pounding."

"I bet."

"How did this happen?"

"They haven't told me anything other than some sort of explosion. Not sure they even know what it was yet. But it had a few floors above us collapse." JC paused as he considered that exchange on the radio. "Said we were lucky to be where we were when it happened."

"Anyone else?"

"Huh?"

"You said it was a call. Anyone else here?" Jamie's words were slow.

JC could hear the effort he was using to put together coherent sentences and he pressed his lips into a tight line and exhaled through his nose. "The restaurant owner. Old man. He was in the hallway when it happened," he pointed to the blocked doorway, "haven't seen or heard from him."

Jamie closed his eyes and nodded subtly. "Our families know?"

"Yeah, they let them know." JC thought about that for a moment. "I'm sure they're all waiting out there for us."

"Yeah," Jamie agreed.

"My mother and sisters are probably freaking out right now," he added softly. "Your family too."

Jamie pursed his lips. His stomach tightened, not just because he was concussed, but because of what Eddie and his family were probably dealing with right now.

"Maybe Cruz-Reagan partnerships aren't such a good idea," JC joked.

Jamie closed his eyes for a second and smiled sadly. "Yeah," he said.

JC regretted saying that and shook his head. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. Just...some luck we have, huh?" he said.

Jamie just stared ahead at the collapsed ceiling above him and the dust that floated around them.

"This may not be the right time, but considering we have nothing but time right now...been doing nothing but thinking." JC paused as he put his thoughts together. "First time you woke up, you weren't really there. You took one look at me and called me Vinny."

Jamie mouth opened in shock. "I'm sorry...I, uh, I don't remember," he replied, feeling bad that he would have done that.

"It's okay, man, not your fault." JC picked at the end of the flashlight in his hands. "I'd give anything to have Vinny back, but I'm happy he died doing what he loved. And God, did he love this job. The rest of us never understood that, you know?"

"Most don't," Jamie added.

"I mean, I've been on the force six months, right? I can count on one finger the number of people who've shown any kind of appreciation for the things we do. But you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world."

"Neither would I."

"I get it now. There's a lot about Vinny I understand better now. Walk a mile in their shoes and all that, right?"

"Yeah. I understood a lot of what I'd hear my grandpa, dad and brothers talk about better after I came on the job." Jamie closed his eyes as the pressure in his head grew worse. "But still always knew it was what I wanted," he whispered.

"I'm glad you were with him. I've never told you that, Jamie."

Jamie's eyes snapped open at JC's words. His partner wasn't in his direct view right now, but he knew he was being sincere.

"It's weird the things we have in common, losing brothers to this job. Certainly made things awkward those first few weeks."

"Yeah."

"Renzulli must've been crazy. I remember a lot of the looks people would give me, us even, at the precinct."

"You're Vinny's twin, JC. It was strange for everyone that knew him." Jamie pressed the heel of his hand against his good eye, hoping he could alleviate some of the pain.

"I'm sure. For what it's worth, I've learned a lot in the last six months." JC paused. "You're a good TO and a good friend. I'm glad we're riding together," he said.

"Me too, man," Jamie whispered. He hoped that the friendship they'd started to build was based on more than just the tragic experiences they shared.

Suddenly, building around them began to rumble and more dust began to rain on them.

"No, no, no...," JC begged.

Jamie brought his arms over his head and JC huddled over his partner as the ceiling above them began to drop lower.

The building shook and the partners braced themselves for the rest of the room to collapse around them when it all stopped as abruptly as it began.

Jamie and JC coughed at the thick, dusty air. JC's ribs protested while Jamie was on the verge of blacking out from the sharp, knife-like pain that shot through his head with each cough.

When he could breathe again, JC pulled away to check on his partner. He grabbed the flashlight which had rolled away during the quake and held it up to the ceiling. It had shifted a few inches lower, but no more than that, thank God.

He looked down at Jamie and found him on the verge of hyperventilating and he had a death grip on the front of his shirt. "You okay?" His eyes widened at his partner's deathly pale complexion. "You gonna be sick?"

Jamie's eyes remained clenched shut, willing the pain to go away and praying he didn't lose his lunch again.

"Cruz, do you copy?"

JC reached for his radio as he kept his eyes on Jamie. "Here, yeah, we're here."

"What's your status?"

"Ceiling shifted above us, but we're okay, relatively. What was that?"

"More of the second floor behind your location collapsed."

Jamie stilled under him, the pain too much for him to bear and JC was on the verge of panicking himself.

"Tell me you're close, man. I need to get my partner out of here. He's out again."

"We're close, Cruz. I promise. But we got to reassess our path to you. Bear with us, okay? Almost there," the voice promised.

"Copy that. Just hurry," JC said. He put his hand to his partner's neck to reassure himself that he was still with him, sighing when he felt the strong pulse under his fingertips.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

JC had left the flashlight on this time. It had scared him to see Jamie pass out the last time. He'd been in severe pain and barely able to breathe one moment and deathly still the next. So he'd stayed next to him. Checking for signs of life repeatedly, checking in on the radio more than necessary. The voice on the other end doing what it could to reassure him and keep him calm. But the longer he stayed down there with his unconscious partner, the more unnerved he got. And he was forcing himself not to check his watch, because that was only making time stand still. So he stayed close to Jamie, thinking of anything he could to distract himself, no matter what the topic, to force time to go by quickly until rescue came.

And it seemed to work.

"Cruz?! Reagan?!"

JC jumped at the voice. He stared at his radio, but it hadn't come from there.

"Cruz, do you hear me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we're here!" JC shouted.

The rubble in the doorway began to shift and JC held his breath, afraid he was imagining that help was within their grasp.

"Hold still, guys, we're almost there," the voice advised.

"Jamie? Come on, man. Our ride's here. You gotta wake up, man," JC pleaded. He grabbed his partner's hand and squeezed it.

Jamie responded with the slightest of movements, his eyes shifting behind heavy lids.

"Hey, that's it, Reagan. Open your eyes. We're almost out of here. You missed everything else, can't miss this," he encouraged.

Jamie's eyes opened and closed repeatedly. JC's voice was persistent so he struggled to wake up.

Things continued to move around the doorway, but JC was focused on getting his partner awake again. Once his eyes managed to stay open, he said, "Good to have you back, partner. We're getting out of here. Your girl's probably out there waiting for you, so you gotta stay awake."

"Got...help?" Jamie whispered.

"Help's here. Don't go napping on me again," he ordered with a smile.

"Yeah."

Suddenly a helmet popped through the bottom of the doorway followed by a black and yellow FDNY coat. The firefighter had half his body in the small space when he looked up at JC. "You Cruz?"

"Yeah, I'm Cruz. This is Reagan," he nodded over to his partner.

"Name's Manny. Gonna help you guys out of here." He looked around the space, which didn't take long, and climbed over Jamie's legs to squeeze in next to Vinny. "The guys are trying to clear some more debris to give us more room for a basket. Think you can walk out of here, Cruz?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can."

"You being straight with me? Any injuries? Cause it's gonna be a climb to get out of here," Manny warned.

"Yeah, I mean my ribs are sore and I got a bump on the head, but I've been awake almost this whole time. Just got knocked out in the blast," he answered honestly.

Manny studied him carefully. And then looked down at Jamie who was staring straight ahead through drooping lids. "Okay, buddy. We'll probably get you out of here first then. Guys will help you out, but you gotta tell us if you need extra help, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, but he's hurt worse. You gotta get him outta here first."

"I'd love to, but I need you out so we can fit another body and a board in here to help your partner. He'll be in good hands, man. I promise."

JC looked down at his partner not wanting to leave him behind.

Jamie had heard the firefighter and could see the indecision in JC's eyes. "Go, JC. I'll be behind you."

JC's jaw clenched and he stared back for a moment before nodding. He blinked quickly feeling suddenly overwhelmed. "Yeah," he said thickly. He looked into his partner's eyes and squeezed his hand. "I'll see you out there, okay?"

"Yeah," Jamie responded and gave him a tight smile.

JC gave him one last look before glancing at Manny. "Okay, where do I go?"

Manny turned to the doorway and called out to one of the other firefighters. "Joey, you ready for one? He's ambulatory."

"Send'em out. We're ready," a voice responded.

"All right. Climb over your partner, crawl out that hole and Joey will be waiting on the other side. They'll get you out and then we can get him ready for transport."

"Okay." JC patted Jamie on the shoulder and reached for both their hats. No way he was leaving either behind. "I'll see you in a few, partner."

"I'll see you," Jamie answered.

JC smiled and crawled through the doorway. Once he was out of the office, he found he could stand, just not to his full height. He was greeted by one firefighter who helped him climb over some rubble and handed him off to another firefighter and so he went through an assembly line of FDNY, through a maze of brick, wood and plaster and god only knew what else. It felt like he had climbed for hours until finally, fresh New York City air and sunshine hit his face and an awaiting group of firefighters and medics hustled him away from the three story building he'd entered that morning. JC turned back, the building's facade looking no different than it had looked this morning - it had looked like it was on the verge of collapse then too, he just didn't realize it was a very real possibility.

The street was lined with fire trucks, police cars and ambulances. He was taken to the nearest ambulance and deposited on the back bumper. The medics fired questions at him which he answered dutifully, but he refused to take his eyes off the area he had exited. And he refused to let go of the hats he clutched in his hands. The medics wanted him to lay on a stretcher so they could asses and transport him, but he refused politely and told them he wasn't moving from that spot until his partner was out. They argued with him and he argued back, threatening to leave the ambulance and their care all together for a better position near the building.

Seeing that he didn't seem to be in any immediate physical distress and that his determination was strong, they worked around his seated position, knowing it would probably take a sedative to get him to comply with their requests to move him.


	7. Chapter 7

Busy few days...

Chapter 7

The medics worked swiftly to flush the dirt and dust from his head and face. They were cleaning and bandaging the cut at the top of his forehead when he'd heard his teary-eyed mother and sistersbeing escorted to the ambulance. Once his mother had gotten to him, she'd refused to let him go for several minutes even though he tried reassuring her he was fine.

He'd caught sight of his partner's girlfriend and family standing several feet away, allowing him time to reunite with his own family before they sought any information from him on Jamie's condition. He'd shared what he could, the head injury being the biggest concern - definitely concussed, disoriented at first and missing time, he told them he'd been more lucid each time he woke up, but still groggy.

So they waited quietly with JC near the back of the ambulance for Jamie to be pulled from the collapsed building, each lost in their own thoughts and prayers. Eventually, activity seemed to pick up around the same salon storefront JC had exited. A pack of firefighters emerged carrying an orange transport basket between them, a pair of still black boots visible on the first end of the basket to come through. Once the firefighters had cleared the salon, they were met by a team of medics who moved swiftly and in tandem with them as they jogged to the other waiting ambulance. There was no hesitation in raising the backboard from the basket and transferring their patient to a stretcher that was then quickly loaded into the back of the ambulance. They barely caught a glimpse of Jamie, his neck encased in a cervical collar and his head secured to the backboard. A mask covered the lower part of his face and his arms lay motionless across his stomach.

They moved together, as close as they could to the ambulance, shock evident on each of their faces upon getting their first glimpse at him. One firefighter relayed information to a medic who hung out of the back of the ambulance before the doors were shut and it sped off.

The same firefighter that had been speaking to the medic searched the crowd and spotted the commissioner a short distance away. He seemed to take a deep breath as he adjusted the equipment bag that hung off his shoulder before making his way over.

"Commissioner?"

Frank swallowed and prepared himself for whatever news he was about to be given.

"How is he?" he asked simply, not wanting to waste time with pleasentires.

It was Manny, JC realized.

Manny glanced at the many faces looking back at him and focused on the commissioner. "Officer Reagan, he suffered a head injury, definitely concussed, but they'll be better able to diagnose him at the hospital. There were no other major injuries that we could detect when we were assessing and getting him ready for transport, but again, they'll be able to better determine that at the hospital. He was awake for most of the trek out of the building, but lost consciousness as we were coming out. They're transporting him to St. Vic's."

Frank pursed his lips and nodded his head, accepting the information wordlessly. He turned to head back to his car, when Manny stopped him.

"Sir?"

Frank turned back to the firefighter. "Yes?"

Manny was fumbling in his bag, bending over to place it on the ground between them. "Officer Reagan was pretty adamant that we not leave his weapon when we took it off him, sir." Manny stood, holding Jamie's belt and holstered gun in his gloved hands and held it out to Frank.

Frank stared down and took it in his own hands, then looked up at the name written across the firefighter's left breast. "Thank you, Lieutenant Ramirez. I'll take care of it for him."

"Yes, sir."

Frank held the belt and gun to his chest and turned to leave, Eddie and the rest of the clan following quietly behind.

JC remained rooted to the same spot where he had watched them take his partner away.

Soon a hand squeezed his shoulder and broke him out of his spell.

"All right, Officer Cruz. Now you need to allow us to get you checked out."

JC stared back at the medic that had helped clean him up and nodded, following him back to the ambulance. JC's family said their goodbyes and promised to meet him at the emergency room before he was loaded and strapped to a stretcher for transport.

The doors opened to the fourth floor of St. Vic's Hospital and JC stepped out, looking in both directions of the hallway. He found the sign to the ICU waiting room and clutched the hat in his hands as he made his way there.

When he reached the waiting room, several pairs of eyes looked up to meet him. Commissioner Reagan and Detective Reagan stood as the rest of the Reagan family remained seated around the room.

"JC. How are you, son?" Frank stopped before him and Danny stood at his side.

"Commissioner," he greeted. "I'm fine, sir," he said.

"No formalities, JC. It's just Frank now," he told him.

"Ah, yes, sir, thank you."

Danny smirked at the rookie's slight look of alarm.

"You've been given a clean bill of health, I hope."

"Yes, I just got discharged. Just some bruises and a couple of cracked ribs." JC touched his wrapped chest over the green scrub top he'd been given in the emergency room.

"I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious," Frank responded.

"Well, ah, I just wanted to check in on Jamie, sir. They told me downstairs he'd been moved to ICU." He looked between the Reagan men, clearly concerned at having to come up to this floor to get information on his partner.

"Docs ran all sorts of tests. Said Jamie fractured his skull in the explosion," Danny advised him.

JC's eyes widened and his mouth hung open at the news. He hadn't expected to hear that. "What does that mean?"

Frank let out a weary sigh. "Well, from what the doctors are telling us, it only sounds more serious than what it really is in Jamie's case, fortunately. He has a small hairline fracture to the side of his head. But tests showed no signs of bruising or bleeding to his brain. So they think they can treat it conservatively with rest and pain medication. He'll be here for the next twenty-four hours for observation and then he should go down to a regular room for at least a few days before they'll let him go home."

JC's eyebrows shot up. "That's good news," he said.

"Yeah," Danny confirmed. "Kid's hard headed -"

"Seems to run in the family," Frank interjected.

"- it'll take a lot more to keep him down for the count."

JC smiled at Danny's attempt to play off the injury, but he could still see the worry in his eyes.

"That's a relief. I just wanted to see how he was. I didn't know if he was being allowed any visitors."

"Only for a few minutes. Eddie's back with him know. He was resting when I got a chance to see him," Frank said.

"No, problem. Just let him know I'll come by to visit when he's on a regular floor," JC replied.

"Of, course," Frank assured him.

JC smiled tightly at the pair. "I should get going. My family's waiting downstairs."

"JC?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Thank you." Frank looked at him solemnly.

"Sir?" JC said in confusion.

"Thank you for watching over him. FDNY told us you kept them constantly apprised of his condition." Frank paused. "Thank you for that. It means a lot that he wasn't alone."

"Of course, sir." JC nodded dumbly and turned to leave before he remembered another reason he had come up. "Oh, ah," he reached into one pocket of his uniform pants and pulled out a cell phone. He placed it inside the hat he held in his hands and looked at the photo one last time before handing it to the commissioner. "Jamie's phone and hat, sir. I know the hat is important to him."

Frank's brow furrowed and he took the items, plucking the phone out of the hat to peek inside. His face softened at the photo he found. He clenched his lips and smiled softly before looking back up at JC. "Thank you, son. I'll make sure he gets it," he whispered. He then lowered his eyes back down to the photo.

Danny looked over his father's shoulder, his own expression softening.

JC nodded his goodbyes and walked back to the elevator. Before he stepped inside, he took one last look down the hallway to find the commissioner still in the same position he'd left him, clutching one son's hat while looking whistfully at the face of another.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

JC nodded at the uniform standing guard outside of the hospital room and knocked on the door before walking in.

Jamie's eyes opened and he rolled his head on the pillow to see his partner making his way into the room.

"Hey. Getting tired of finding you napping all the time," JC deadpanned.

"I'm really good at it these days," Jamie responded with a smirk.

JC nodded. He approached the edge of the bed and put his hands on his hips. "How're you doing, man?" He studied his partner carefully. His color was back to normal, but he still had the bruising around his cheekbone and eye and a bandage on the side of his head. The only other thing out of place was the scruffy beard from a few days of not shaving.

"Better than a few days ago. I can actually manage to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time now."

"That is an improvement." He shook his head and took a seat in the visitors chair and looked around the room. "I thought I'd be walking into a room full of Reagans. And one Janko, of course. Where is everyone?"

"Gone back to their normal schedules. No point in sitting around here watching me do nothing but sleep," he explained.

"True."

"I'm sure happy hour will start back up after five, though," Jamie added.

"I bet." JC took a breath.

"How are you?" Jamie asked. "My dad told me you busted some ribs."

"I'm good. You probably cushioned my fall somewhat in the explosion. Thanks for that, by the way," JC joked.

Jamie laughed. "What are partners for, right?" he shot back.

"Yeah," JC laughed back. He shrugged as he went on to say, "Just cracked a few ribs and was a little stiff the next day, nothing more. So, I heard that your sister's office is getting involved in this mess."

"Yeah. Erin said the building was supposed to be condemned or something. Slumlord may have bribed some people to delay things. I don't know. It kind of gave me a headache and I zoned out. Didn't want to think about it anymore. But considering people died, they're doing a full out investigation." Jamie rubbed at the side of his head. The headaches weren't as intense as they had been the first few days, but they were still there.

JC noticed his discomfort and shook his head. "Poor Mr. Wen. I hope he didn't suffer."

"Me too." JC had told Jamie about the old man they'd met that morning, but he still had no recollection of him at all. It still unnerved him to be missing a chunk of time.

"Have they told you how long you'll be out?"

"Probably couple of weeks, at least. Depends on when the doc wants to clear me," Jamie advised.

"Yeah? Well hope your skull knits quickly, cause Renzulli called to check in. He said I'll probably ride with him when I get back next week." JC scrunched up his face. "I think I'm a little concerned about having to spend whole tours with him."

Jamie smiled. "Nah, he's not so bad. You two can can spend tours planning all your meals. Sarge knows where all the good food carts are."

"There's a plus."

"And he likes to break out and sing really bad, old seventies songs." Jaime grimaced. "You just kind of gotta go with it," he advised.

JC widened his eyes. "Okay. I'll try to remember that."

"He was my TO. I told you that, right?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah, you mentioned it once."

"We rode together for two years and then I got paired up with Vinny." Jamie looked at the far wall. "He was Joe's TO too," he added distractedly.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Jamie confirmed as he looked back at JC.

"Some coincidence," JC said.

"Yeah. It was nice to hear stories about him from Renzulli."

JC leaned forward and let his hands hang loosely between his knees, but quickly straightened up again, forgetting his tender ribs. "Kinda like when you get into stories about your time with Vinny. Just gives you a different insight into someone you thought you knew everything about, huh?"

Jamie nodded.

"You'll have to tell me about Joe sometime," JC said.

Jamie smiled and nodded. "My dad also told me you brought my hat. Thanks for that. I would have hated to leave that behind."

"No problem." JC shrugged and looked down as he folded his hands together. "I wouldn't want to leave mine behind either," he added.

"The only things I remember from that day is you in my face, trying to keep me awake and talking to me."

"Really? I wasn't sure you'd even remember much of that. Even though you were coherent a couple of times, you were working hard to put your thoughts together."

Jamie's face turned serious and he looked his partner in the eyes. "No, I remember almost everything we talked about. That and the panic. I'm really grateful you were there to help me through that."

JC shrugged. "We're partners, right?" He wasn't sure what else to say.

Jamie nodded and remembered something else. "Did I really call you 'Vinny'?" he asked suddenly.

JC smiled sadly. "Yeah."

Jamie grimaced. "Sorry."

"What, why? You got nothing to be sorry for, partner. I mean, you fractured your skull. I wouldn't hold anything you said that day against you."

"Still. Hell of a thing..." Jamie whispered.

"Well, I can file it away together with the looks I got when I transfered to the Twelfth. Like you told me back in that building - I could be Vinny's twin. Same look, in fact, that I got from you when I walked into the locker room my first day. You remember that? You looked like you'd seen a ghost." JC smirked.

"Of course I remember that. But yours wasn't too far behind. Guess I wasn't the first person you were expecting to see."

"No, probably not. Definitely didn't expect to ever get partnered with you either." It was JC's turn to get serious and he sat up in his chair. "I meant what I said back there. I'm really glad we're riding together."

"Me too, partner," Jamie said sincerely.

"I'm glad you're okay." JC stood and extended his hand out to Jamie. "And you look like you're ready for another nap, so I'll let you get to it," he said with a smile.

Jamie laughed and gripped his partner's hand firmly. "The more I sleep, the fewer tours you'll have with Renzulli."

"Then by all means, don't let me keep ya from it. I'll check in with you later. Maybe we can go grab a beer when you're allowed to imbibe again."

"Absolutely."

They were interrupted by a petite, brunette nurse who was pushing a small computer cart. "Hey, Jamie. You're due for more pain meds if you need them." She sent JC a quick smile before focusing on her patient.

Jamie turned weary eyes on her but didn't miss the way JC was staring at the cute, young nurse and had had a quick flashback to Vinny that brought a smile to his face. "Yeah, I definitely could," he told her.

She clicked the mouse a couple of times and quickly typed something into the computer before grabbing a small tray from the cart. She pulled a syringe out and set about administering the medication into Jamie's IV port.

While the nurse was disposing of the used syringe, Jamie smirked back at his partner. The pain medication was working its way into his system rather quickly, like it always did, and it seemed to help loosen him up. He glanced at his nurse's left hand, before saying, "Oh, hey, Grace, this is my partner, JC. He was with me when that building came down around us."

The nurse turned around and looked at JC with wide eyes. "You were there with Jamie?"

"Uh, yeah," JC stammered.

"That looked pretty scary on the news. Looks like you faired well, though. That's great," Grace said and gave him a soft smile.

"Yeah, he was lucky. I cushioned his fall. Isn't that right, partner?" Jamie smirked. "But that's okay, he's the one that took care of me and helped me make it out of there."

JC shot a look at his partner while Grace was facing away from him.

The young nurse's eyes widened again and she turned to JC, looking impressed. "Wow. It's pretty great you were able to help Jamie get out."

A light blush spread across JC's cheeks. "Yeah, well, brothers in blue."

Grace held out her hand and said, "Well, it was nice to meet you. Maybe, I'll see you around again while we have Jamie here with us."

"Maybe," JC said as he shook her hand and exchanged smiles with Grace.

"I'll check on you later, Jamie. Try to get some more rest."

Jamie had a silly grin on his face, his head lay heavily against his pillow. "Okay."

After Grace wheeled the cart out and closed the door behind her, JC turned to his partner. "What was that?"

"What?" Jamie said innocently.

"Were you trying to play matchmaker or something?"

"Considering the way your eyes popped out of your head when she came in..." Jamie said with a shrug.

JC laughed and shook his head. "You enjoy those drugs. Later man," he said and reached out for one last handshake before he turned around to leave the room, looking forward to getting back out there with his partner again.

fin.


End file.
